OMAHA, Neb.—Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn has never liked talking about his personal College World Series record, and even after his Razorbacks won Saturday, that didn’t change.
Arkansas beat Cal State Fullerton 10-6 Saturday to give Van Horn his first CWS victory and improve his career record to 1-6, but he still appeared reluctant to address his CWS mark.
The question didn’t come until nearly midway through the postgame news conference: “Dave, are you glad to get that first College World Series win?”
“It’s really not about me,” Van Horn said. “Obviously, I’m glad that’s over. I finally got a College World Series winning percentage. I’m glad it’s over with, and, hopefully, we’ll never talk about it again.”
Van Horn’s last postgame news conference at the CWS was a bit more tense. In 2004, after his Hogs lost 7-2 to Arizona, he was asked to explain why he was winless in six CWS games.
An angry Van Horn replied, “Being outscored the six times. Ask a dumb question, get a dumb answer.”
Van Horn also went two-and-out at the double-elimination CWS with his 2001 and 2002 Nebraska teams.
Third baseman Zack Cox and starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel said there was never a team discussion about Van Horn’s struggles in Omaha.
“I don’t think we talked about Coach being winless here in Omaha. We just wanted to stay hot,” said Keuchel, who picked up his eighth win after going six innings before his back stiffened.
Cox said a reporter told him about Van Horn’s 0-6 CWS mark just as postseason play began.
“As a team,” Cox said, “we never talked about it. We were focused on Cal State as a team.”
The Razorbacks got loud support from Arkansas fans who made the trek to Omaha, and it appeared that some Nebraska natives were pulling for Van Horn on Saturday.
“Every time we did something good,” Cox said, “you could hear from our fans.”
There was even some “Calling the Hogs” coming from the stands, with the cries growing louder as the Razorbacks neared victory.
Keuchel was long removed from the game by that time. He was lifted in the seventh for Mike Bolsinger, who pitched the final three innings.
Keuchel said his back first bothered him in the fifth inning but loosened a bit in the sixth. He said he was disappointed he couldn’t go longer after allowing four runs, three earned, on five hits.
“Overall,” he said, “I’m happy with my performance, but there’s always room for improvement.”
